Weather-related disasters, drought, famine, and rising sea levels have created a humanitarian crisis forcing tens of millions of people from their homes each year
Current U.S. immigration law does not explicitly provide protections for individuals on the basis of climate conditions
Washington (November 1, 2021) – As President Joe Biden attends the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) this week, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass) and Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07) today urged his Administration to respond to and provide aid to the increasing number of climate-displaced persons around the globe.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has declared the climate change-fueled displacement disaster to be the ‘defining crisis of our time.’ Weather-related disasters, drought, famine, and rising sea levels –all caused by increasing global temperatures– have created a widespread humanitarian crisis that is forcing tens of millions of people from their homes each year. Current U.S. immigration law does not explicitly provide protections for individuals on the basis of climate conditions. International law is also of limited assistance as there is no universally accepted definition of climate-displaced individuals. Specifically, in letters sent today to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the lawmakers call on the Biden administration to use existing legal authorities, including the special humanitarian concern provisions of U.S. refugee laws, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) to help climate-displaced persons.
“Until Congress can enact specific statutory protections for climate-displaced persons, the Administration can and should expansively use existing authorities to help those suffering at the hand of our changing climate,” said the lawmakers in their letter. “We have a responsibility to mend the humanitarian holes in our immigration system. We can begin by bridging the gap for climate-displaced persons, who need immediate protection, while Congress works on comprehensive, long-term solutions.”
A copy of the letter can be found HERE.
Other Senators signing the letters include Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
Other members of the House of Representatives signing the letter include Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-03), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-02), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Grace Meng (NY-06), Jesús G “Chuy” García (IL-04), and Marilyn Strickland (WA-10).
In October, the Biden administration released a report linking the impacts of climate change to migration, marking the first time the U.S. government has officially recognized and reported on climate-displaced persons.
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